[Edu-sig] Editors/IDEs for teaching

[Andre Roberge]

On Tue, Jul 3, 2018 at 12:11 PM Nicholas H.Tollervey <ntoll at ntoll.org>
wrote:

> On 03/07/18 16:04, Andre Roberge wrote:
> >
> > ​ I do agree with what you write ... but, at the same time, I've been
> > struggling to define appropriate categories. Some software can be
> > designed for use by (young) adult beginners but not for young children.
> > (For example: anything that will rely heavily on word menus ... say,
> > like Microsoft Word.) I'm using the term hobbyists for this category.
> > Other software can be designed to be used by young children.  I did not
> > see Mu being designed to be used in a CS 101 type of course.  Perhaps I
> > am wrong and should simply think of the target audience as "everyone"
> > like I did for IDLE.... ?
>
> Got it in one! :-)
>
> Mu is for *anyone* who is a beginner programmer, no matter their age or
> background.
>
> Mu is a *very small* code base (currently around 3.5kloc). However, the
> installers for Windows and OSX weigh in at around 100mb. Why? Because Mu
> bundles Python 3, Qt, Tkinter, Matplotlib, Numpy, Jupyter, PyGame,
> PyGameZero and a host of other things commonly used by those starting
> computing classes.
>
> Why include all this stuff? Because (and I remember this from my
> university days) just being able to set up a dev environment on your own
> computer is a royal pain in the arse -- especially if you're a newbie.
> ;-) If the answer is "just install Mu, 'cos it's easy" then beginner
> data scientists immediately have a "first steps" IDE they can use to
> skill-up before they go figure out how to "pip install jupyter" and
> point their browser to the right place. ;-)
>
> Does this make sense?
>

​Yes, it does.  I did install Mu just a few days ago to have a look and
this is one thing that struck me as being extremely positive, as it solves
so many problems faced by beginners. I am truly, truly impressed by it.

I cringe when I see people on the learnpython subreddit reply to people
that are clearly absolute beginners that they should use PyCharm.​  (I do
not bother replying anymore as the PyCharm fans crowd wrongly believe that
their choice is the only suitable one).

My only question about suitability for CS 101 type of audience is that will
it be perceived (by those "serious" CS students) more as a toy, given its
friendly interface, than a "professional" tool suitable for them - such as
Wing 101, or PyCharm Edu.     (Don't take me wrong: I really think it would
be very suitable - I'm just wondering about the students' impression.)

André

>
> N.
>
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